No, seriously, the stuff I post as not understanding on here, I really do not get.

I am very well traveled and, normally, I get to understand local values and issues pretty quick. I agree that many countries have followed the US example but there are no other places out there that are quite like it. In most other countries, kids go to school, the sick get treated, the unemployed get benefits, there are fewer power outages and few people get shot (including by the Police).

America is extreme. By extreme, I mean such little Government support for the individual but so many rules and regulations governing your conduct. So you're free here in the sense of no-one giving a damn about you, until you break the rules. Most other countries are a little more balanced.

Any how I've been in the US for six years now and there is still some stuff I just don't understand because a lot of what you do here is done because "the Founding Fathers said so" or "because of the Church" and you've never taken the time to think about it yourselves.

So in the US, you have some really dumb ideas that just stick around even though the majority of Americans are very smart.

Like guns. Banning them is a no-brainer. But you still allow them.

If you allow them, people are going to get shot. There are 100,000 gun injuries in the US every year. Are you really telling me that your right to own a gun justifies that misery? Can you see why that might seem a little mad to people who come from places where there are, at most, a few hundred shootings a year?

And climate change. Thank God the EPA is now going to regulate the heck out of your power plants.

Your kids will get better jobs and live better because of that. But some Amercians don't seem to care. They just want cheap power and gas for the moment they are living in! Very shortsighted.

So I am trying to get explanations for the things Americans take as granted, that foreigners just see as weird and extreme. You are all either very clever or extremely stupid and my questioning is an attempt to work out which.

you take bait. Ian you bit. But you got serious so you turned it to your advantage. Bully for you, old c*ap. I don't much contribute to silly subject threads, but this one will be good because the paradox is clear and deep, now that Ian has redefined himself as a thinker. Or, at least, he has raised some points succinctly.

Ian, here is a hint, if you want to know where you will find people who can converse reasonably with you. Millions of good people have official status on both sides of the US-Canada border but won't talk about it openly, because both governments want it not to be known, that one could easily have the right to be working and living on either side of the border at any time. It seems to be a no-no, to say this. Go figure, everywhere else in the world people want free speech while we already have it. (And for some subjects we won't use it.) Go figure, it's taboo to talk about legal status or any gray zone. Millions of Americans have Canadian ancestry, and vice versa also: in Canada, if you scratch the surface, you find that many people have US status too, because their parents were US citizens, or because they moved to the USA for a few years and then moved back to Canada, or for a number of other reasons. But you have to dig to find that out.

Some or most of these people could be good observers of all the things Ian just raised: paradoxical results that come out of some basic thinking. I'm saying as clearly as I can that people who have lived for years at a time on each side of the Canada-US border can be good observers to the problems that Ian wants to discuss.

In my family tree, almost everyone in the last 150 years has either been a dual citizen or has had parents who were citizens of the other country. (Various people moved back and forth every so often).

There ARE seemingly inexplicable things that seem to have developed into a state religion at the same time as traditional religious affiliations keep up their old discourse. What do the Quakers say about all this? Decades ago they were strongly against a war that one president announced was "to win hearts and minds" of the people being invaded. In a recent year, I heard another president announce an invasion "to win hearts and minds" of the people being invaded and I wondered if it worked previously. Some topics are SO taboo that any attempt at discussion turns into a blasting session.

Thank you Terry Love for allowing a clown in a print shirt to write out his rambling thoughts and give him time to finally make sense. I don't wear prints; Ian does.

I enjoy Ian's comments, and Redwoods. Quite entertaining, and both make good points.
It's not real popular to question the wars we get into, though you really have to wonder how we are changing peoples belief systems by force. That never worked in school, and it's not going to happen anytime soon.
Iraq, what was that about?
Vietnam, what was that about?
So many good men and women, doing their best overseas, it's too bad we couldn't keep them here where they would be safe, and doing things here.
I'm pretty sure, there are a lot of places in the US that need help. And it would be nice if the worst that could happen is a fist fight. Though those can get bad too. All in all, I feel much safer here then when I travel. Canada always feels safe, South of the US gets a little tense. I would love to go to Asia, Europe and South American though.

That is true Ian. People are just flocking to live in those other countries, breaking all barriers to live in those countries. That is true, kids in China are so much smarter, that is why the suicide rate their for kids and women are the highest anywhere. Hey! When I was 12, I wouldn't mind going to school 12 to 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, and sure... I want to be treated just like the women there are treated, boy o boy, they better have a boy child, first time around. I also, have no problem in wearing burka's... they are cool, so I want to live there, too, and life won't be the best until, I do. I see nothing wrong with stoning women, (adultery is so wrong) beheading, hanging, our judicial system stinks next to that. Yep, you are right Ian. Time is not of the essence in being treated for small things like cancer. Nah, victims, I mean, patients can wait a few months on a waiting list. It is only fair, what is a little thing like our great survival rates. For the life of me, I have no idea why anyone tries to illegally sneak in here, I mean, why not Africa? I hear the water is great there and plentiful, enough for everyone. What's a little Malaria.

Yes, Ian, we are so very extreme, with what our compassion, our sincerity to do right, and to say...here... opening not only our hearts but our wallets to everyone, every country in the world. Yes, we set a horrible example. It is a good thing, I don't see that bad example elsewhere.

Yeah, we don't bow to neon Gods, we make such terrible decisions in believing that something greater than us created us, and wowee, zolee, we go to church. Church. Excuse me for swearing. It is such a bad word in the English language. Wait! I am not speaking the King's language.

Yes, you are right Ian. We are so extreme to do target shooting. To go to the woods and shoot at cans, and plastic jugs, not at missionaries in some other country. Oh, wait, why would we shoot at ourselves helping others out? We are the missionaries for the most part, the saintly little people who want to teach english and try to improve the lives of other countries, that everyone wants to sneak into.

Why, my goodness, we got guns. This should be banned. Will you look around you while on your worldly travels and see the truth, please. Take off the rose-colored glasses.

What should be banned? Not seeing things for as they are. Our guns are not the problem. They are only your complaint.

Ps. I hear now is a great season to visit the Pyramids. The weather is beautiful.

No, seriously, the stuff I post as not understanding on here, I really do not get.

I am very well traveled and, normally, I get to understand local values and issues pretty quick. I agree that many countries have followed the US example but there are no other places out there that are quite like it. In most other countries, kids go to school, the sick get treated, the unemployed get benefits, there are fewer power outages and few people get shot (including by the Police).

America is extreme. By extreme, I mean such little Government support for the individual but so many rules and regulations governing your conduct. So you're free here in the sense of no-one giving a damn about you, until you break the rules. Most other countries are a little more balanced.

Any how I've been in the US for six years now and there is still some stuff I just don't understand because a lot of what you do here is done because "the Founding Fathers said so" or "because of the Church" and you've never taken the time to think about it yourselves.

So in the US, you have some really dumb ideas that just stick around even though the majority of Americans are very smart.

Like guns. Banning them is a no-brainer. But you still allow them.

If you allow them, people are going to get shot. There are 100,000 gun injuries in the US every year. Are you really telling me that your right to own a gun justifies that misery? Can you see why that might seem a little mad to people who come from places where there are, at most, a few hundred shootings a year?

And climate change. Thank God the EPA is now going to regulate the heck out of your power plants.

Your kids will get better jobs and live better because of that. But some Amercians don't seem to care. They just want cheap power and gas for the moment they are living in! Very shortsighted.

So I am trying to get explanations for the things Americans take as granted, that foreigners just see as weird and extreme. You are all either very clever or extremely stupid and my questioning is an attempt to work out which.

In most other countries, kids go to school, the sick get treated, the unemployed get benefits, there are fewer power outages and few people get shot (including by the Police).

America is extreme. By extreme, I mean such little Government support for the individual but so many rules and regulations governing your conduct. So you're free here in the sense of no-one giving a damn about you, until you break the rules. Most other countries are a little more balanced.

Any how I've been in the US for six years now and there is still some stuff I just don't understand because a lot of what you do here is done because "the Founding Fathers said so" or "because of the Church" and you've never taken the time to think about it yourselves.

So in the US, you have some really dumb ideas that just stick around even though the majority of Americans are very smart.

Like guns. Banning them is a no-brainer. But you still allow them.

If you allow them, people are going to get shot. There are 100,000 gun injuries in the US every year. Are you really telling me that your right to own a gun justifies that misery? Can you see why that might seem a little mad to people who come from places where there are, at most, a few hundred shootings a year?

And climate change. Thank God the EPA is now going to regulate the heck out of your power plants.

Your kids will get better jobs and live better because of that. But some Amercians don't seem to care. They just want cheap power and gas for the moment they are living in! Very shortsighted.

So I am trying to get explanations for the things Americans take as granted, that foreigners just see as weird and extreme. You are all either very clever or extremely stupid and my questioning is an attempt to work out which.

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a). I can't recall in the last 20 years that I have personally experienced a power outage. Of course they happen. Sunspots happen. $@$%@ happens. Get over it.
b) I am 66. Once, I was unemployed for a few months. I received unemployment pay. I have health care . My kids have health care. Everyone I know has health care. Yup, pay through the nose for it so we can pay for health care for the ILLEGAL ALIENS.
c) People crash cars and kill people in the crash. Wanna ban cars??
d) The gun thing is a practical matter. 150 million people own guns. You aren't going to get them back. Don't even think about it. I don't own a gun, but every time they talk about more regulations, I get a little closer to buying one!
e) If you think the US government is TOO SMALL, just let a copy of the IRS Code Book fall off a shelf and hit you on the head!
f) The border checkpoint here at the Otay Mesa port of entry is WIDE OPEN going south. The internet doesn't work much down there, but you could write to us!

BOTTOM LINE: WE LIKE IT HERE.! and apparently 20 to 30 million Mexicans and Central Americans and Chinese and Pakistanis and maybe even a few Brits , seem to think we have a better deal going here!!!!!!

You are all either very clever or extremely stupid and my questioning is an attempt to work out which.

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An excellent point which I began researching around the age of 15. Finally, after writing a weekly column as an Eastern European foreign correspondant during the years of the breakup of the Soviet Union, and putting a few hundred thousand back-road kilometers on various cars between France and Moscow, I came to a bit of a conclusion.

You will never work out which it is. There is a general stratification of very ignorant and very bright, but the modifiers of cunning and good natured, mixed with a chance bit of dormant insanity, allow any sort of the above to capture power in America, or anywhere, at any time.

Frankly, I give little hope toward the future of polite society anywhere, unless god blesses us with a swift and painless plague that would allow a fresh start for the earth.

As to guns, my travels tell me that most would love to have our freedom and SPACE in which to shoot to their hearts content.

We just need to continue divesting the ignorant and insane of guns. But because it is impossible to determine well, the nature of a human being, which is changeable by week or year or an instant, our existing laws seem the best we can do.

Global warming is far beyond our pompous notion that we can understand its actions. The earth is just running one of millions of cycles.

BOTTOM LINE: WE LIKE IT HERE.! and apparently 20 to 30 million Mexicans and Central Americans and Chinese and Pakistanis and maybe even a few Brits , seem to think we have a better deal going here!!!!!!

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That does not mean we can make America even better! Or are you all to lazy to even try?

We are so extreme to do target shooting.

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Those targets tend to be people Cookie! 100,000 injured by guns in the US every year. Over 30,000 killed by guns in the US, every year. Over 10,000 murdered by guns in the US, every year. Ban them.

Most of the 150 million will be returned. As I have said before, Americans are good people and just love rules. Look at permits for installing gas water heaters. Everybody has one!

Even by American standards (which is saying something) I am now too old and too fat to join the military.

They would not have me.

It was not my calling, but if I had been born here it would have seemed like a good option to get a paid education, a good pension and decent healthcare - which should be universal for all citizens, not just those in the armed forces.

I am utterly confused as to why America so freely tolerates throwing handouts at its veterans but not to its plumbers. Does a taxpaying plumber not contribute as much to this country as a soldier? Of course he does. And he may die doing that too.

I leave becoming a citizen here an option, if I can ever accept the Republic and somehow forget the treason of this stolen land.

That is where you are wrong. Even the police cannot shoot people, most of the time. You read stories about how the police fired 300 rounds at a suspect and MAYBE he is hit with one of them, or the officer fires the entire clip at the suspect and he runs away unharmed. But that leads to the question, would YOU want to be around a civilian when HE is shooting at some lawbreaker, or in YOUR house when your significant other is trying to take down an "intruder", especially if that intruder is you coming home late?

Ian is like the people from New York who move to Arizona and then complain that EVERYTHING about New York is better, but refuse to move back there.